"Tesla Merchandise Sold with Dogecoin" Musk Awakens the 'Sleeping Dog'

Tesla Allows Partial Payment with Dogecoin
Dogecoin Price Soars 38% Instantly

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who was selected as Time magazine's Person of the Year, demonstrated his powerful influence by driving up the value of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

On the 14th (local time), Musk said, "Tesla will allow some products to be purchased with 'Doge.' Let's see how it goes."

Following Musk's statement, the price of Dogecoin surged 38% from around $0.16 to $0.22.

The price increase of Dogecoin somewhat slowed, and as of 3:40 PM Eastern Time, it was trading at $0.183, up 18.5%.

Cryptocurrency prices, including Dogecoin, had sharply declined the previous day amid concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant and growing possibilities of an early interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), leading to a risk-asset sell-off.

Musk initially supported Bitcoin and Tesla purchased Bitcoin, but later declared himself the 'Doge Father' and repeatedly expressed support for Dogecoin, driving its price to unprecedented heights.

Dogecoin weakened after Musk appeared on Saturday Night Live (SNL) last May and said, "Dogecoin is a scam," falling sharply from a peak of $0.68 to a recent $0.15.

Dogecoin even suffered the humiliation of being surpassed in market capitalization by Shiba Inu, a cryptocurrency created to mimic Dogecoin.

Musk's remarks on this day are notable as they came shortly after an interview with Time the day before, where he claimed that Dogecoin is good for product transactions while Bitcoin is suitable for value storage, arguing that people hold onto Bitcoin expecting its value to rise, but Dogecoin can be used for transactions and consumption.

Currently, Tesla sells not only vehicles but also children's electric bikes called 'Cyberquad,' clothing, accessories, and ornaments, which are expected to be purchasable with Dogecoin.

Tesla had previously allowed Bitcoin payments for vehicle purchases but stopped accepting Bitcoin payments, citing environmental concerns compared to Dogecoin, which triggered a cryptocurrency crash.

On the same day, Bitcoin's price also rose about 1.5%, recovering to the $47,000 range.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.